The document discusses the author's experiences with physical education and sport from childhood through present day. As a child, she was actively involved in sports like athletics, basketball, and participated in PE lessons. Her parents were very supportive of her involvement in physical activity. She developed skills and values from participating in sports. Currently, she plays social basketball, volleyball and netball. The author believes her experiences have given her a positive attitude towards physical education and its importance. However, she recognizes that more content knowledge is needed to feel confident teaching PE.

1. EMR205
Assessment Task 1
PDHPE: You and the Profession
Natalie Hoogers 11470189 Due Date: 27.3.13

2. Me and My Experiences

3. My personal experience of PDHPE,
sport and physical activity was quite
extensive growing up. During school
years I actively participated in Sport
lessons once a week and PE lessons
throughout the week. I have always
had a love for physical activity and
this was evident in my participation
and enjoyment in school sports and
PE lessons. I also found Personal
Development and Health lessons
fascinating and have developed a
firm understanding of a Holistic
Approach to Health.

4. As a young child I trialled most sports that our
small town offered; basketball, swimming,
athletics, tennis, dancing and netball. My
parents were extremely supportive of sport
and encouraged me to pursue the sports I
loved. Athletics and Basketball were the
sports I was passionate about and continued
to pursue. Majority of my childhood consisted
of long car trips around the state to the many
representative opportunities these sports
provided. These two sports developed many
skills that I transferred into social sports;
netball, volleyball and cricket. If it were
possible to be involved in every sport I would
have been, but due to time and money this
was not an option. As I got older I continued
representative basketball but focused less on
athletics. The main reason for this was time.
Making time for school work, basketball,
athletics and socialising was a difficult task.
Today I play basketball, volleyball and netball
at a social level.

5. My parents were the main influence
on my physical activities. Their
support, encouragement, finances,
values and commitment are what
have shaped my experience with
Physical activity and health. My
Basketball and Athletics coaches
and team mates were also significant
influences in my life and remain key
influences. Alongside learning many
practical skills, I learnt many of my
values and social skills from
participating in physical activity eg.
teamwork skills. Although many of
these skills were taught in PD/H
theory lessons, I grasped these from
being involved in the practical aspect
of PD/H/PE and sport.
Key Influences

6. My past experiences have founded an extremely positive
attitude towards PDHPE. I have a rich value placed upon PDHPE in
the school environment as I believe physical activity does not only
affect the physical health of a person, but the mental and social health
also. I believe it is important for all kids to be exposed to physical
activity. I was fortunate enough to have parents in a position that
allowed me to participate in sports outside of schools. For students
who do not have that privilege, PDHPE is the important mode for such
skills and values to be developed. In saying this, I also believe the
subject needs to be taught well for this outcome to be a positive one
rather than a negative for all students, not just those who are deemed
„good‟ at sport. Although PDHPE lessons assisted in my positive
outlook on health and physical activity, these lessons did not make me
fit or healthy. Instead they informed me of the choices I would need to
make in order to live a healthy lifestyle. I know my role as a teacher is
not to make my students „fit‟ or „healthy‟, but to provide them with the
skills and knowledge for them to make their own informed choices
towards a healthy lifestyle (Kirk, 1996). As an upcoming teacher, I
understand the value and importance of PDHPE and endeavour to
transfer the same values of PDHPE to all students who I teach. The
positive experience I‟ve had over the years is the same positive
experience I‟d like all students to have when in my classroom.

7. The PDHPE Educator

8. Organise
d Physically
fit
Enthusiasti Appropriat
c e clothing
Content Variety
knowledg of skills
e and
activities
Effective Knows
communicato students
r

9. Knowledge
Skills and Abilities
- K-6 PDHPE Syllabus
- Organised: objectives - Large range of
and content, smooth activities
transitions - Holistic Health
Physical
- Physical Skills: variety - Technology Characteristics
of sports, - Knowledge of - Fit/Active/Healthy
demonstrations students, their abilities - Average weight/toned
- Health Skills and needs. - Wears appropriate
- Engaging/fun/motivati clothing; runners,
ng tracksuit, polo, hat.
- Time management
- Commitment Types of Teaching
Actions & Activities
Communication - Engaging activities
- Confident - Variation
- Approachable - Appropriate for student skills,
- Enthusiastic gender, age
- Effective communicator - Fun and motivating
- Clear concise - Non-exclusive (all can
instructions participate)
- Voice: variance, - Good use of resources
confidence, projection

10. PDHPE and Educational
Settings – My position

11. What value/non-value do you believe PDHPE
has from Primary Educational Setting?
“Arnold [Arnold‟s model 1988] positions physical education as a
medium for education about movement involving theoretical understanding,
education in movement involving practical knowledge and education through
movement leading to moral and social outcomes. It is the ability of the
performer to make strategic decisions in complex and dynamic situations,
acting as an intelligent performer, that is the goal of physical education from
this perspective.” (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996). I believe successful
PDHPE education involves two components; practical skills and knowledge
and theoretical understandings. These two components, if taught well,
ensure students have the intelligence to make well informed decisions that
affect the lifestyle they live. With this in mind, it is obvious that PDHPE
education holds a valuable place within the education system. It is not
necessarily focused on the specific skills or knowledge but the person as a
whole and the decisions they learn to make that will affect the lifestyle that
the live. I believe this is one of the most valuable skills to pass on to
students.

12. I am aware of the many misconceptions that are placed on
PDHPE education. PDHPE is often seen as a non-serious subject, “a
break from real work” (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996), “merely playing
games” (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996), time waster or the subject with
less importance and therefore can be „wagged‟ or replaced from other
school activities (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996). I myself at school would
choose PDHPE as the subject to miss if I had to do extra curriculum
activities. Why? This subject was given a less valuable status to any other
subject. These misconceptions and stereotypes often result in lack of
motivation from students and teachers, lack of resources, less time
allocations and reduced staffing for the delivery of PDHPE lessons. Time
allocations are a good indicator of the value that is placed on PDHPE
education. “Most sources suggest time allocated to physical activity in the
school curriculum is relatively low.” (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996).
“ACHPER recommends that all primary school children have at least 3
hours of physical education each week and that school sport must not be
included within this allocation.” (Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, 1996). My
personal experience, although a good experience, did not meet these time
allocations. A normal week would consist of half an hour of practical
lessons and half an hour of theoretical lessons, on top of two hours of
sport.

13. If you were to compare yourself to the PDHPE Educator
in the previous section, how would you compare?
In comparison to the PDHPE Educator in the previous section, I am
currently far from being a confident PDHPE Educator. I do however feel I
possess many of the skills and characteristics, but lack understanding of
content. I am an organised person who has good time management skills. I
am committed, engaging, fun and motivating. I have many physical skills that I
could transfer into almost any sport and provide effective demonstrations. I do
however feel I wouldn‟t be organised with the objectives and outcomes that I
am required to teach. My knowledge of the K-6 PDHPE syllabus is very
limited. So although my skills meet those of a confident educator, I would not
know what to teach. I also have a limited bank and range of activities. I did
PDHPE as an elective in the Higher School Certificate and have a great
knowledge of the Holistic approach to health. Physically, I am fit and healthy. I
have good communication skills, although my voice projection could be
improved on. Overall, in comparison to the PDHPE Educator in the previous
section, I believe I will make a confident PDHPE educator once I gain a better
knowledge of the PDHPE K-6 Syllabus.

14. How do you feel about teaching PE in the K-6 context?
My overall feeling about teaching PE in the K-6 context is –
Underprepared. I believe PDHPE is a very valuable and worthwhile Key
Learning Area (KLA) and should be taught well. At the current stage in my
studies, I do not have the content knowledge required to teach what is
expected from the PDHPE K-6 Syllabus. In saying this, I believe that after
acquiring syllabus content knowledge, I would feel very capable in teaching
PE in the K-6 context. I possess many of the skills needed to be a confident
PDHPE teacher and believe I would be able to transfer these skills into
teaching PE lessons in the near future. After making this conclusion about how
I feel about teaching PE, I read the article What strands for physical education
in primary schools? by Tinnings, Kirk and Evans (1993) and realised I am
among many female teachers who feel as though they have limited knowledge
to teach PDHPE. “There is a widespread belief among teachers and principals
that generalists simply do not have the knowledge to teach skills (in
movement)… They claim that it is female teachers who most often consider
themselves to be unqualified to teach physical education.” (Tinnings, 1993, pg.
3).

15. What do you believe teachers need to know and be able to do to
confidently teach PDHPE? Provide justification of these attributions.
I believe there are many things teachers need to know and be able to do to
teach PDHPE confidently. Among many skills and characteristics these I believe
to be the main things teachers need to be able to do:
• Passionate:
Teacher needs to want to teach the subject and be passionate about it. “When
asked to identify the necessary characteristics of a good physical education
specialist teacher, staff at Montville spoke of the important of personality and
enthusiasm, sound organisational skills, the ability to motivate others and to
sell the subject to others.” (Tinnings, 1993). A PDHPE teacher must have
many skills such as organisation, time management, but I believe that overall,
the teacher needs to have a passion for the subject. With passion and
enthusiasm, the same passion and enthusiasm will be found within the
students as they participate in the lessons. PDHPE teachers need to be able
to show their passion for the subject to all students and allow all students to
participate in that enthusiasm.

16. • Subject Content:
Teacher needs to know the subject content, the aim and objectives for the
subject. For a teacher to confidently teach students the PDHPE subject, they
first need to understand what their students should know and what they need
to know. Teachers need to be able to teach all Strands within the syllabus. “In
order for students to achieve the outcomes of this syllabus it is essential that
teaching/learning occurs in each of the strands in each stage of primary
education.” (BoS NSW, 2007). As well as knowing what students are required
to learn, teachers need to have a variety of activities and plans to teach these
outcomes.
• Safe Environment:
I believe teachers need to be able to create
a safe and non-exclusive environment for
all students. This means valuing the
contributions made by all students and
taking the time to meet students at all
levels. Being able to create a safe
environment, students will feel valued
within the learning environment.

17. References
Board of Studies NSW. (2007). Personal development, health and
physical education K-6: syllabus. Sydney: BoS NSW. Retrieved
March 15, 2013 from,
http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/personal-development-
health-and-physical-education-pdhpe
Kirk, D. (1996). The crisis in school physical education: An
argument against the tide. The ACHPER National Journal,
43(4), pp. 25-27.
Kirk, D., Nauright, J., Hanrahan, S., Macdonald, D. & Jobling, I.
(1996). Physical education and curriculum. The sociocultural
foundations of human movement. Melbourne: Macmillan
Education Australia. Chapter 10.
Tinning, R., Kirk, D. & Evans, J. (1993). What stands for physical
education in primary schools? Learning to teach physical
education. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Chapter 2.